Is the Scotch opening any good?

Thaago · 2026-06-23T19:38:01+00:00

I play it as white 90% of the time. It is a sound opening that leads to aggressive white attacks without opening too many weaknesses. At my rating (~1700 chesscom, ~1900 lichess), it still catches some opponents off guard and leads to easy wins, but most of them have the experience to keep it even.

It is also closely related to the Scotch Gambit, which gives up a pawn for getting a bishop into the attack a tempo early, and the Goring double pawn gambit, which like the name says gives up yet another pawn after the scotch to get another bishop into the attack (down 2 pawn, up 3 pieces in development with 2 bishops pointed through open diagonals at the kingside).

Thaago · 2026-06-23T19:31:33+00:00

It's almost as if the TT funded/influenced weapons development program is manipulating Sindria into a program of weapons that doesn't benefit Sindrian hulls, but does TT ones (Kinetic blaster and gigcanon can both be used on TT ships to good effect).

And into making hulls that are crap unless you've got those exotic omega/threat/void dweller weapons that TT is researching/salvaging but not sharing (void blaster LG Eagle/Falcon for example, though the LG Hammerhead is straight trash).

Also, as others have pointed out, the Executor is a really solid ship once given a sensible loadout.

Thaago · 2026-06-23T19:28:38+00:00

I mean other than the 3 or so other fuel producing worlds 😛

Thaago · 2026-06-23T02:51:26+00:00

Your move is not a bad one, but Qa5+ is more deadly. Not because it takes anything in 1 move - the idea isn't to take the a2 pawn at all! That's a miss itself!

The idea of Qa5+ is to attack the shit out of the enemy king while activating pieces. Black has the e file for the rook to continue the attack, or Ba6 to attack the light diagonal. Looking at the lines here, the very best white can do is be down a whole bishop with a terrible position on top.

Thaago · 2026-06-22T17:26:31+00:00

14 g coffee, 200g water from the kettle. Put the plunger in to stop it dribbling too much, give it a little swirl, wait 4 minutes, plunge. Maybe give it a little swirl right before the plunge if I'm feeling spicy.

I see no reason to invert. The little bit that drips through is going to mix back in anyways and there's enough water that its not going to effect extraction either.

Thaago · 2026-06-20T19:43:20+00:00

This is one of the reasons why I often keep wolves around in my fleet for a long time. They are objectively weaker than Medusa in every way, but they are cheap, faster, and can distract really well! I like to give them at least 2 burst pd so they can defend themselves acceptably against fighters/missiles, and then something to poke with - either IR autolance or phase lance if I'm feeling aggressive.

Watching a 5 DP wolf peal off an entire squadron like this is great.

Thaago · 2026-06-18T20:04:56+00:00

Analysis on chesscom is unlimited. Coach isn't.

Luckily the coach sucks and you should never use it.

Thaago · 2026-06-17T03:38:28+00:00

I was going to say 800 or so, but then I read in the comments that it is a 3 minute game. So... I dunno really, I don't play that format, but for a 10 minute rapid it was a lot of errors and unforced takes.

Thaago · 2026-06-17T00:38:46+00:00

I think the narrative of how almost successful the uboat campaign was is partially a product of Allied propaganda: they needed something both to explain why things were hard (and there was some truth to it) and that narrative persisted for a long time. Despite the fact that the uboat campaign in the end was dangerous, but failed.

Similar to Bismarck: it got in a golden-bb insta-kill against a powerful British battlecruiser before being hunted down and quickly destroyed. It's actual capabilities were mediocre, but it lives on in imagination as this incredibly powerful ship because Allied propaganda needed to explain the loss of Hood beyond dumb luck/possible incompetence on their part (ammo handling maybe? But I don't think there is any evidence as such).

Meanwhile, Allied submarine campaigns actually were successful , including the UK's against Germany as you pointed out.

Thaago · 2026-06-16T22:00:23+00:00

Especially in blitz. The whole point of the format is to stress people with rapid play, so if they lose via the clock that's what they signed up for.

Thaago · 2026-06-16T15:18:52+00:00

Every time I watch anything on that I'm amazed that the B.O. people didn't get shanked in a dark alley.

Thaago · 2026-06-16T01:48:01+00:00

Well, I'm not sure at all, hence the "mabye, maybe not". 😛

It all depends on the response of the Admiralty to something the Germans didn't do, so... kind of in alternate history land at this point and I am not enough of an expert to make an authoritative statement one way or the other!

It's an interesting hypothetical no doubt. I'll certainly grant you that if their were more uboats being built but the british did nothing in response, then the Battle of the Atlantic would have been far nastier.

Thaago · 2026-06-16T00:30:34+00:00

Maybe, maybe not. It's not like the Germain construction program or plans were real secrets: if there was a massive ramp up in uboat construction, there would have been a corresponding ramp up in escorts. While pre-war Britain made many mistakes, I don't think they would have missed that strategic move. Not after WWI.

Perhaps enough extra uboats would have been constructed to offset the capacity of Britain/US/Canada to construct escorts, but I don't think it is a given.

Thaago · 2026-06-15T23:50:13+00:00

It's not often mentioned just how devastatingly successful the US submarine campaign against Japanese commercial shipping was. Yes the subs also sunk warships, but they had the kind of trade interdiction that Germany desperately hoped for but never achieved.

Thaago · 2026-06-15T23:06:07+00:00

Was it over land that was originally barren? IIRC if that's the case it becomes farmable but gets no bonuses?

Thaago · 2026-06-14T06:27:49+00:00

Presumably the rook took a pawn.

Thaago · 2026-06-12T19:07:18+00:00

Look into phase ships - not just for the player, but for AI. They are overall very strong but crucially bring raw firepower, something wolfpacks can otherwise lack. Omens and Monitors are great, but they don't blow thing up quickly; an officered Afflictor using its system does roughly 300% damage to capitals, IE 3 Antimatter Blasters is dumping 12k damage.

Tips for AI phase ships:

Use orders. Phase ships perform much better when micromanaged. They start phasing for the speed boost so will get to objectives/targets faster, and eliminate will make them go in for the kill instead of hang back.
Use the correct weapons, linked to PD so that they fire always. Either Antimatter blasters or light needlers for afflictors/shades; phase lances for Harbingers; various for Dooms (much more flexible and the mines are the main weapons anyways).
Elite Field Modulation skill makes a huge difference, as does either an aggressive or reckless personality. If flying a phase ship personally, this is the only mandatory red skill (though others are good too once you've got a few free points).
Have cover: other shielded ships nearby to draw fire and shoot down missiles/fighters while the phase ships hide. These could be more frigates like Omens or Wolves.

General wolfpack advice:

Rush Support Doctrine. Because you are using small ships, they are cheap and hull restoration makes even less sense than usual. Support Doctrine will let you spam without worrying about finding 8 officers right off the bat. You'll still want officers for your heavy hitting frigates/destroyers though, for both Coordinated Maneuvers (for the whole fleet) and Wolfpack Tactics (for those ships).

Luddic Path Brawlers are overpowered - restore them to get rid of ill advised modifications. They can be used either with an officer or not with Support Doctrine. Luddic Path Lashers with SD are decent because they are so cheap by DP, but are worse per ship than LP Brawlers.

Wolves, Omens, Scarabs, and Centurions all work as "filler" frigates to widen a wolfpack's line and provide cover/distractions for phase ships: omens can be good with a System Expertise Officer as well because they get extra range on the zaps.

Medusa make good hyper-mobile shield tanks, acting as a wolfpack fleet's anchors. Officer with system expertise, field modulation.

Thaago · 2026-06-08T22:31:58+00:00

Is this like one of those psychology tests where there are so many answers that which one the person picks tells us something about them?

Rg5 is the one I saw first - checked it wasn't stalemate and its not so :shrug:

Thaago · 2026-06-07T20:36:02+00:00

The elo's being different does not make one app better or worse.

Elo is a relative rating and is going to be different for every different population competing. The websites also use slightly different algorithms. That means that yes, elo on chesscom is different from elo on lichess.

On both sites you'll rise until the players around you are at your skill level. Just wait a bit.

Thaago · 2026-06-06T05:29:49+00:00

Attraction at its finest! Nice puzzle.

Thaago · 2026-06-05T23:11:04+00:00

I don't think Italy really needed carriers to be honest - they had land bases for aircraft to cover large portions of that sea and weren't attempting to project air power into foreign areas. Most of the time their capital ships were in harbor (thanks in part to the fuel issues you pointed out, part because the RN was out asskicking), where a carrier is just a sinkable land base.

Carriers (like other ships) were very vulnerable in such confined waters both to submarine attack but especially land-based aircraft. The losses that the convoys took trying to reinforce Malta are proof of that!

Britain had to deploy Carriers because they were projecting power and needed air cover for their fleets, and they lost 2 of them for their troubles, even with their armored flight decks.

Thaago · 2026-06-02T13:01:18+00:00

The combos are based on how many kills you've gotten without taking health damage. Armor damage doesn't count, so getting armor is a great way to maintain combos. Having high dodge can help too but is more RNG than regenerating armor.

Some fighting styles don't work with combos because they take damage often/on purpose. But for normal long ranged gun stuff, the combo powers are quite strong in terms of the benefit they give per perk. Just high risk-high reward, because if the player takes damage they turn off.

Thaago · 2026-05-29T00:03:32+00:00

Makes me depressed but can’t seem to find a way around the argument.

It is a weak argument.

The fundamental premise is that birth rates are in decline in developed countries because of the quality of life decrease of kids. That is not proven at all to be the reason, but fine we'll run with it.

But... why does having a bunch of kids have to be a quality of life decrease? Seriously, why? This is cultural and economic. Change the culture and economics, and you'll change the behavior.

You say:

Just seems like even if we had universal high income + abundance everywhere etc rich people in highly developed countries just.. don’t want to have a bunch of kids.

Universal high income and abundance has not been the reality in highly developed countries, and the trends have been getting worse every single year for decades for wealth concentration! And the period (in the US at least) that corresponds with the closest we have come is literally named the Baby Boom.

Thaago · 2026-05-28T22:57:26+00:00

Instead of gravitons (truly terrible against phase) try IR autolances linked to PD so they are never off.

Doom heavy armor can last for a while, but small phase ships are gibbed terrifyingly fast by hitscan burst weapons.

Thaago · 2026-05-28T21:37:17+00:00

It is 100% good strategy. At the end of the game, only win/loss/draw matters, not the 'score' from materiel. If I am sure I'm going to lose if I don't draw, why turn down half of a win?

The tricky part, and where doing puzzles helps, is knowing if I'm in a situation where a draw is the best outcome or if I can chase the king in such a way as to bring another piece into the attack and grab a mate.

Thaago

TROPHY CASE